Family Pictures

We had some pics taken in November with Gianne. I'm finally getting around to posting some! I loved the entire set, and had a really hard time choosing which ones to print. So here are some of my faves:

Check out Gianne's blog for a few more...

October 2011

A few weeks back, my mom and I took Sam to Gardner Village to see the witches. We took Trax there because Sam has been loving trains, and they've recently completed the Trax by our house which he asks to ride every time we see a train. He was so cute on the ride. He wanted to push the door buttons by himself, and picked out our train seats, making sure we got the same ones on the ride home.

waiting for our train

on the train

This year he was not afraid of the witches.

I also got hungry for some sugar cookies as soon as October hit, so together Sam and I mixed, rolled, cut, baked and frosted fall shaped cookies. He loves to help, and of course loves cookies. (thanks dad.) He had a blast making the flour 'mess' and rolling the dough out- "I do it!" Then, he would steal cut out cookie dough for himself.
I absolutely love this picture. I promise I didn't ask him to do this. He totally "man poses" for us all the time, and when I asked if he wanted me to take his picture with the cookies this is what I got! It looks like he's on a baking show!
I decided that this year for Halloween Sam would be a dinosaur, for the obvious reason that he loves dinosaurs. I ordered one online way back in September (so prepared!), and since Sam is smaller for his age, ordered the 2T (that's what most of his clothes are still). Well, it did end up being too small, and by the time I mailed it back, it was halfway through October. So, I decided that he would be Batman instead, since he already has a Batman cape and t-shirt. We would just have to buy him the mask! I kept talking about being Batman for Halloween to get him excited about the change, and one day my mom asks him "What are you going to be for Halloween?" to which he replies, "ROAR! T-Rex!" Great. So, to avoid the Halloween costume switch melt-down, that night I jump online to re-order the dino costume in a larger size. It's out. Of his size only. Same with every other dino costume on the entire internet (really). Except ONE. The delivery estimate is October 27-November 1. With no returns or exchanges. Hmm... Add to cart. I'll take my chances. Luckily it arrived on October 26th! Fit [almost] perfect, with a minor adjustment by my mom.

Mr. Distracted

Sometimes it's so hard to get him to look at the camera! I took a bunch of pics in his costume, and this is the one where you can really see him!

He got to go to Boo at the Zoo with my mom the Saturday before. (I was totally bummed that I had a full day of work scheduled. Then, my first appointment didn't show- I totally could have taken him! Ugh!)

The annual Nigbur Halloween party was held the sunday before, and Sam said his favorite part was the "pumpkin game" which is like pin the tail on the donkey, only it's a jack-o-lantern's nose. He really enjoyed the 'smokey' cauldron of dry-ice during dinner. We had bat-wings, skeleton fingers, lizard tails, and more of the like for dinner. Thanks for the fun party Dave and Debbie!

doughnut game!

Then for Halloween we visited grandparents, did a bit of trick or treating, and then headed off to aunt Cheryl's to see the fun halloween going-ons in her neighborhood she's been telling us about since Sam was born. There is a house that the guy is some kind of graphic/video designer. He makes this projection on his entire front yard and decorations that includes singing faceson blow-up pumpkins, dancing skeletons, talking hungry house, ghost coming out of the graves, and so on. All with custom music and sounds. It was pretty awesome. Very Disney-esque ;) Sam was afraid at first, but slowly it grew on him, and he let dad take him to the front door for treats. He says that his favorite part of trick-or-treating is the "singing pumpkins." Wish I took some pics!

Sam was so fun to take trick-or-treating. The first house he got asked, "What are you?" and he replied, "Sam Nigbur." As the night went on he got more and more confident, and at one point when we stopped to talk to neighbors, he just looks at the waiting front door and heads up there himself. Cheryl was dressed as a witch, and when I asked him whose hand he wanted to hold, he points to her and says, "That." We got a good laugh out of that one!

July 2011

We were able to take a trip to Lake Powell with my parents a few weekends ago. We were worried about Sam not swimming, because he doesn't really like to. So my sister and I took him to my aunts pool. He cried for about 15-20 minutes, and just when I was going to give up, he started to love it! It got him so excited to go on the boat and swim in the lake. We always had to make him get in the water, but he loved once he was in! Believe it or not, these are the only pictures I took the whole weekend.

Sam got a dinosaur painted on his face at West Fest, and I of course didn't get a picture of it until he'd gone to sleep...

We had this Napoleon Dynamite wig and glasses for Halloween one year, and Sam came across them and put it all on.

Here's Sam, Katie, and Annie waiting for fireworks on the 4th of July.

Our BIG three year old!

Sammy is officially a big 3 year old! Sam loves birthdays, but not because of the presents. It's because of the cake. When I asked what he wanted for breakfast, he says, "No breakfast. Cake first." We took him to the fair, and he pet a lot of animals, and even rode a pony! I was worried he would get scared, but when the "stranger" came to get him, Sam just took his hand and didn't even look back! We saw a new-born calf that was literally born seconds before we walked into the barn, and baby pigs. We also saw Pres. Monson while checking out the pigeons. I was too chicken to ask for a pic!

We had just a small birthday with grandparents, great grandma's and Sam's friend Kasia and her family. I don't like parties- attending, hosting, whatever. Plus, the last two years he comes home with so much stuff, and the last thing we need around our little town house is more stuff! So- simplify. Small party.

He actually really likes everything he got, and plays with all of it. He was a bit obsessed with the trains and tracks from G&G Fuller, and now is all about the kid's Dinosaur encyclopedia he got from G&G Nigbur. He searches through every page looking for pics of "E-wex." He knows "sarah-tops" and "wong necks" but likes the T-rex best. He also got a book from GGma that sings a song, and it's quickly becoming the most annoying song, because I hear it ALL THE TIME. He also really likes the big dino puzzle we gave him. And I did something I never thought I would EVER do- I made a Dinosaur cake. Not a cake with dino's on it, a cake cut into and frosted like a dinosaur! I totally felt like Martha Stewart. When it came time to cut, #1- I didn't know how/where to cut a dinosaur into edible sizes/shapes, #2- hesitated about ruining my hour+ creation in about 10 seconds flat. But cake is cake, and it was a yummy dinosaur! :)

Some new phrases we hear all the time from Sam:

"Awesome."
"Oh my heck!"

"A minute, mom!"

"Amen, 'willa." This one comes from Scott saying "amen brother", and Sam interprets it as "amen gorilla."

"Sammy first."

"Pway wiff me."

"Happy boat-day"

"I don' wike it."- Usually in reference to something he hasn't actually tried.

"Shh- stop talking, mommy." While putting his hand over my mouth.

"Guys! Guys!" When he wants to say something

If you ask, "what does a horse say?" he says, "Yee ha!" When he wants to show you something, he waves his hand palm up in front of him like Vanna White, and says, "Ta da!" Every night both Sam says a prayer, then mom or dad. When he says his own prayer he says the same thing: "Heavenly Father, Grandma's house/Papa's house/Kasia's house, Amen." Depending upon whose house he visited most recently. He's into trains now, and keeps asking to ride on a train. I think we will take him up to ride the Heber train.

Scott went hunting for a week with his brother, and the whole time he was gone, Sam was definitely in a funk. Times when he would normally say, "No! I do it!" became, (que the whiny voice) "Help me mommy!" He had melt downs over EVERYTHING, and was super snugly, which he usually doesn't like. I made the mistake of allowing him to sleep in my bed with me while dad was gone, and now he fights sleeping in his own bed. I must say, that seeing how out of sorts Sam got while Scott was gone, really shows how hard a divorce is on a kid. It was only a week, and Sam was so unsure and touchy.

He's also developed a fear of the dark. A bit frustrating, but natural, right? He's also afraid of things he wasn't before. My mom had gotten him a cute and fun Halloween book that made noises. He liked it. He helped pick it out. Now, it's scary and if he sees even a corner of the book, he has a melt down. Huh? I don't know...

Otherwise, potty training is thus far successful, with one night time accident, and few day time ones while dad was gone. If he doesn't want to go, all you have to say is, "Ok, I'm going to go potty first." and it's then, "No! Sammy go first!"

Sam got a couple shots at the doctors last thursday, and when leaving he was slow and pouting, so I asked him what was wrong. He quietly says, "Sammy sad." "Why is Sammy sad?" "Hurt the legs." It was so hard to go back to work after that! I of course worried about him the whole time, then, when I picked him up he was playing and being silly and was just fine. He was really good for the Dr., read the eye charts and played other "games" they were testing him with. All is good. He's in the 25 percentile for both height and weight.

18 weeks already?

This is gonna be old news to most or all of our blog readers, but it looks like we will be having another boy this coming year! I admit that's what I hoped for, since we already have boy stuff :) It was actually the first thing we learned at the ultrasound, and it was obvious enough that I thought "looks like a boy to me" just before the tech declared that she was 110% sure it was a boy, It's probably good that we weren't trying to be surprised :) Sam has said from [almost] the beginning that we are having a boy, so he was right, and while at the ultrasound he said the baby was "swimming." So whenever he sees the ultrasound pics that's what he says. I felt constantly sick for a few weeks, but now feel much better most of the time. I've been having quite a bit of back pain this time, as well as round ligament pain, which I don't remember having with Sam. In fact, I don't really remember feeling any discomfort with Sam, so either I was lucky and didn't, or I have been programmed to forget so that I would have another one!
I started feeling baby boy move around 14 weeks, and now it's pretty constant. It's funny cuz when they are that small, I always imagined them just floating around in there, not doing anything. But with both ultrasounds we've had, he's moving so much the tech is always having to re-adjust her "camera" to find what she's looking for. We have no names lined up, and just like with Sam, probably won't until we have to.

Every day I am amazed and saddened by how much Sam has grown/is growing. He's gonna be 3 years old in two weeks!! Holy cow, I'm getting old. His current loves are anything dinosaur, puzzles, books, and teasing tux (almost constantly). He is pretty good about sharing snacks and toys, and whenever he sees any kids, whether at church or passing them in the car he says "Look! Friends!" He loves to sing and dance in the car, and frequently requests "oh oh" (single ladies by beyonce), cars song (life is a highway rascal flatts version), and recently loves to sing along to "I think I wanna marry you" on the Glee soundtrack. It's pretty to cute to watch him sing the chorus, which has a lot of No's and Yeah's and Go's, and if I sing the chorus too he says "No Mom! Sammy's turn!" Instead of "Ring around the rosies" he calls it "ding-a-long" and sings "lou lou, 'kip a lou" all the time. He is always laughing at himself, and once when on the phone with aunt nattie, she told him that she was stung by a bee, and he started laughing his head off!
I asked him if he was going to share his room with baby brother, and he said no. I pointed out the crib and asked him again and he said no again. So I asked where the baby will sleep and he said "Mommy's room." Hmm... Sharing with new brother may be a difficult adjustment... I don't think he really gets the concept of the new baby, but we are working on it.
We also seem to be making some progress with the potty training. He's got the pee down, we're just working on the rest of it, which thus far has been pretty hit and miss :|

Wearing his shark shirt from grandma

This pic always makes me laugh. This is at the Nigbur's annual 4th of july BBQ. Grandma had given him these sweat bands, and he found the noodle (which he is all about now that he likes to swim) and when I asked to take his picture, he totally posed like this! Ha! What the heck? :) He must hang around girls too much!!

Well there's a little update on our family, I'm gonna try to be more consistent with posts, but we will see!

The rumors are true...

We are having baby #2, due January 27, 2012! We are excited to share the news with all our friends and family!

Papa's Float

My father in law, Dave, was in charge of making a stake float this year for the Days of 47 parade. Let's just say he did an amazing job, most of the work done by his own hands. He hand carved fishes, turtles, birds, sea horses, and a shark out of Styrofoam and built a ship, then hand painted/glittered them all! It looks so great, and he's won the Presidents award in the Taylorsville Dayz parade, and the "animation" award for the Days of '47 parade, only just short of winning the children's favorite. Modern Display even offered him money for the boat portion of his float it's so well done.

Sam really enjoys seeing Papa's float, and after a few weeks of going to see the progress after family sunday dinners, he started to expect to see it following dinner every time. Dave's neighbor built a remote- controlled turtle out of Scott's grandpa's old scooter motor, and it is so cool. (It follows the float during the parade). When they drove it down the street Sam got so excited. He started patting his knees saying, "Come here turtle." Then each of the grandkids got to take a ride on it.

We went to the Days of '47 parade with Grandma Nigbur, and Ryan and Hayley's family. He did pretty good and was sad when papa's float drove away.